Tradecraft: New J.J. Abrams Spy Series

Alias creator, Mission: Impossible III director and all-around hitmaker J.J. Abrams has co-created another spy series and all the networks want it, according to Variety, which reports that the pilot script has triggered a bidding war between ABC, NBC and CBS. Rival trade The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that NBC has as good as won already. The script, by Abrams and Felicity writer Josh Reims, centers on two spies who work together and are also husband and wife. Sounds like it might as well be a sequel to Alias! While that premise has been tried before countless times (from bigscreen hits like Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Undercover Blues* to smallscreen flops like Under Cover and Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Abrams certainly has the golden touch to make it work. And he's shown he can make a great spy series with the first two seasons of Alias. Variety describes the as yet untitled series as an "adventure/action" spy thriller.

*OK, maybe not a hit, but I didn't want to interrupt the nice symmetry of the sentence by clarifying!